Georgia State University received a $15 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to renovate and restore the historic Southern Bell Telephone Company buildings to transform them into a Student Success Center, a GSU press release said.
The Student Success Center is scheduled to open in the fall of 2023. The grant will be used to create a "one-stop-shop hub" for the university's student services and to house the headquarters for the National Institute of Student Success (NISS), GSU said.
"The Woodruff Foundation has provided Georgia State with a remarkable springboard for our Student Success Center fundraising campaign,” Jay Kahn, GSU's vice president of advancement, said.
”In recent years, teams from more than 500 colleges and universities from across the nation and the globe have visited Georgia State to learn about our innovative approaches to supporting students from all backgrounds,” Tim Renick, executive director of the National Institute for Student Success, told GSU.
Support from the Woodruff Foundation and the Truist Foundation also enables visitors to the university to learn about its program in a state-of-the-art facility, he said.
The Student Success Center will include training rooms, technology-enabled adviser offices and conference spaces necessary to host peer institutions.
The buildings were purchased in 2007 by GSU after being in disrepair since 1980s. A feasability study found the buildings were viable, GSU said.
The original Southern Bell Telephone Company buildings were constructed in 1907 and 1922 as an original switchboard center for the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, the university said.
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